4.  The applicant was born in 1941 and lives in Kyiv.
5.  On 30 July 2003 the applicant instituted proceedings in the Shevchenkivskyy District Court of Kyiv against his former wife and mother-in-law, Ms R. and Ms I., seeking division of their jointly owned property, a three-room flat. In particular, the applicant requested the court to rule that one room be separated from the flat and to grant him title to that room. He submitted that the defendants did not allow him to enter the flat and that he had been forced to reside elsewhere.
6.  The defendants lodged a counterclaim, asking the court to grant them joint title to the applicant's part of the flat and to fix the amount of compensation they would have to pay the applicant. They argued that, due to personal conflicts with the applicant, they could not all live together in one flat.
7.  On 28 May 2004 the court ruled in favour of the defendants. It found, relying on an expert's report, that it was not technically possible to separate a single room from the flat. Relying on Article 115 of the Civil Code of 1963, the court granted the defendants title to the entire flat and ordered them to pay the applicant 121,747.60[1] Ukrainian hryvnias (UAH) in compensation.
8.  The applicant appealed, stating in particular that he had been deprived of his property against his will and in violation of the law, and that the defendants had failed to transfer the money to the deposit account of the court in order to prove their ability to pay the amount awarded to him in compensation.
9.  On 14 September 2004 the Kyiv City Court of Appeal partially changed the judgment of the first-instance court. It ruled that the latter court had wrongly relied on Article 115 of the Civil Code of 1963, instead of Articles 364 and 365 of the Civil Code of 2003, which were applicable in the case. The Court of Appeal rejected the applicant's appeal, holding, inter alia, that the defendants' ability to pay the award had been confirmed by a bank statement, according to which the applicant's former wife had a balance of 23,000[2] United States dollars (USD) on her deposit account.
10.  The applicant appealed in cassation, alleging that the lower courts had misinterpreted the law. According to him, the courts had failed to take into account the fact that he had not given his consent for compensation pursuant to Article 364 of the Civil Code of 2003 and that they had failed to ensure that the requirement laid down in paragraph 2 of Article 365 of the Civil Code of 2003 had been fulfilled by the defendants.
11.  On 16 June 2005 a panel of three judges of the Supreme Court dismissed the applicant's appeal, finding no grounds on which to transfer the case for consideration by the chamber of the Supreme Court.
12.  The applicant did not institute enforcement proceedings in order to recover the sum awarded to him by the courts. According to the applicant, he did not receive the compensation awarded in the judgment of 28 May 2004 because the debtors refused to pay it as they did not have sufficient funds.
13.  By a judgment of 11 July 2006, the Shevchenkivskyy District Court ruled to discontinue the applicant's registration at the flat. On 23 August 2006 an appeal by the applicant against that judgment was rejected as lodged out of time. The applicant did not appeal in cassation.